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Letters for Conversation

Theme

General

Age Range

7-18

Type

Activities

Number of Participants

1-5

Timescale

30-60 minutes

Quick overview

A discussion aid that helps a small group to think deeper about a question and share their thoughts. Letters are placed upon the ground and are used as an aid to get the young people to think deeper about their answer to whatever question you are going to ask.

Supplies you’ll need

A-Z of letters on their own piece of paper, preferably laminated.

Leading Letters for Conversation

This activity generally acts as an aid to any discussion you are having with a group that is more reserved about their opinion. You’ll also find it works well with groups that have little confidence or try to be disengaged with conversations.

When you ask a question, explain that rather than sticking up their hand to answer, they must instead go and stand on one of the letters.

The letter they choose is the letter that starts the word or phrase they would use to answer your question.

An example of this is:

Q: How would you describe God?

The young person wants to say caring and therefore stands on the ‘C’.

You may like to add the rule that there may only ever be one person on a certain letter. This prevents young people parroting the same answer without actually giving theirs any thought. It also challenges the young people to think beyond their first answer.

Once all the young people have chosen a letter, depending on the size of your group, get them each to say the word their letter represents and expand upon their reason for choosing the said word.

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